


Anything But Love

by nationalnobody



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Asher Centric, Denial of Feelings, Domestic, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content (Briefly), Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 05:30:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15212252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nationalnobody/pseuds/nationalnobody
Summary: It's only a carnal desire, he tells himself. There's nothing remotely romantic about the way he thinks of Jakob. Nothing at all.





	Anything But Love

Falling asleep can sometimes be a fickle task but typically, Asher has no issues with passing out the minute his body hits his bed. Honestly, he’s pretty sure the same rule applies to anyone after a full day at the warehouse. This isn’t the first time he’s struggled with falling asleep but it is the first time his dick is half hard in his boxer briefs to the thought of a coworker, Jakob, underneath him.

The whole thing is made worse by the fact that the grizzly bear print boxers he’s wearing right now were a gag gift given to him by the very same coworker. It also doesn’t help that, thanks to James and Trevor, they live in the same house now with only a wall separating them.

He can hear Jakob’s playlist bleeding through the walls, softer than the music he likes to play in Asher’s car. These days, he finds himself wanting to sneak a closer glimpse at the softer Jakob; the Jakob that he’s seen briefly in the dark hours of the night when they both happen to be in the kitchen grabbing a mug of water because Trevor’s hoarding all the glasses up in his room. He wants to know the Jakob who wishes him goodnight by brushing past his shoulder with a sleepy smile before disappearing up the stairs.

Maybe a cold mug of water would help him, he probably just needs to clear his head. With a sigh, he sits up, drags his legs over the edge of the bed and makes his way downstairs. The music from Jakob’s room fades to silence as he reaches the bottom of the stairs.

Part of him hopes he’ll see Jakob in the kitchen as well but the logical part of his brain screams no because he’s still kind of hard, wearing a definitely not clean shirt and gag boxers. At least every other time Jakob’s seen him, he’s been somewhat presentable. Well, as presentable as one can be at half past three in the morning.

The sound of water hitting the sink echoes throughout the kitchen as Asher grabs a mug and starts chugging. He continues standing in the middle of the kitchen long after finishing his water, mug still in his hands. The tap drips and the clock ticks and suddenly, he wants to slam his head into the wall. He really should be sleeping, not thinking up hypothetical situations involving his coworker turned housemate.

Groaning, he drags a hand down his face, refills his mug and makes his way back to his room.

This attraction, he refuses to acknowledge it as being anything more, is really starting to mess with his head. It’s made worse by the fact that that they’ve been staying back at the warehouse later and editing more often together. It’s like they’re always in each other’s presence. Not that Asher hates it but it’s not exactly easy when Jakob is all fluid movements, solar flare smiles and snark.

Quiet music still finds its way from Jakob’s room to his own and it’s got Asher imagining things he doesn’t want to; scenarios he’s afraid of and thoughts he’d rather not think, not because they’re bad but because they’re good, too good for him.

Somewhere between his heavy thoughts and the continuous flow of soft songs, Asher falls asleep.

Weirdly, he doesn’t wake up to his alarm this morning. Instead, Jakob’s shouting that Trevor’s already gone and they’re going to be late for work. It takes a moment for his sleep-addled brain to process what Jakob’s just said but then he’s rolling out of bed and dipping into the bathroom, missing the little huff of laughter near the staircase.

Jakob watches as Asher hurries back into his room and reappears in under a minute. Frankly, he’s impressed because Asher isn’t wearing the same shirt he did yesterday. It seems as though, in the rush of things, he hadn’t noticed Jakob grinning at the top of the stairs.     

“So you _do_ use the boxers.”

Asher chokes. Any comeback he could’ve made is lost on his tongue as his heart wrestles with his ribcage. After what seems like eight thousand years, but in reality is barely fifteen seconds, he cracks out a, “They’re comfy.”

Jakob only grins while raising his eyebrows incredulously and Asher is so fucked.

“You just gonna stand there and stare, sunshine? It’s already five past nine.”

Beyond fucked.  

The drive to the warehouse is uneventful. Jakob plays music from a band Asher’s never listened to, all loud beats and harsh, though not in meaning, words. They never talk much during their morning drives, it’s an unspoken agreement that neither of them should fill the comfortable silence with unnecessary conversation.

Sometimes though, Asher wishes Jakob would play quieter music like he does at night. The music he plays in the car isn’t wholly irritating to Asher’s ears, he’d just prefer to not hear such loud noise before his brain’s even fully woken up.

As he waits for the gate to open, he glances at Jakob who has his hands in his lap and his head against the window, brown eyes looking right back at him. Nobody speaks but something in the air shifts, Asher feels it with every fiber of his being. He ignores it and focuses on avoiding parking in James’ usual spot.

He pulls the key out of the ignition and the engine fades out. Jakob still has his seatbelt on. A moment passes. Asher unbuckles himself, the clunk of the metal clip reels back and hits the car’s interior, knocking Jakob out of whatever trance he was in.

Asher notes how quickly Jakob leaves the car after that and cringes, was Jakob uncomfortable with him wearing the boxers? He was sure he hadn’t been acting any different around him.

By the time he walks into the warehouse, Jakob’s already sitting at his desk clicking away. Probably trimming, Asher thinks. He heads to his own desk which is opposite Jakob’s and he’s not sure whether that’s a blessing or a curse.

They don’t talk. It isn’t unusual whenever one of them gets into an editing grind but it rubs Asher the wrong way, especially with the way Jakob basically fled his car before. Still, he doesn’t try to start a conversation even though his heart is screeching at him to do so.

This is just _attraction_ , he reminds himself, nothing more.

Two hours pass by and Asher finally pauses, tearing his eyes away from the screen as James walks by with Aleks, talking loudly about the Amazon Prime Time video they just filmed. Asher feels a pang of something hit his heart but he doesn’t know what it is.

They’re not holding hands or kissing but the way Aleks looks at James after hearing a dumb joke and how when James checks the time on his phone, the screen lights up with a photo of himself and Aleks smiling; it makes something in Asher’s stomach turn and he yearns so badly for whatever they have but he knows he can’t have it.

He glances back at Jakob whose brows are slightly furrowed, the way they always are when he gets into his editing, with the artificial light of the warehouse bouncing off his curls and highlighting his cheekbones. No one’s ever looked so pretty.

Fuck.

Asher tears his eyes away like he’s been burnt. He doesn’t have a crush or something more, it’s only carnal attraction. He only wants to slam Jakob against the nearest surface and fuck him senseless. Wants those full lips wrapped around his cock with a look that screams  _wrecked_ painted all over Jakob’s face. That’s all he wants.

“-sher! I said, do you want something? I’m gonna get Postmates.”

“Oh, sorry. Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”

It hangs in the air for a little but Jakob just nods and God, Asher feels like the biggest idiot in existence. His stomach growls and though he isn’t necessarily religious by any means, he prays that Jakob doesn’t hear it.

He does.

Asher watches as Jakob completely removes his headphones, gets out of his chair and stretches like a God damned cat, all long limbs and a litheness Asher desperately wants to familiarise himself with. He watches as Jakob moves around the desk and rolls back Asher’s chair slightly before moving the keyboard to the side and sitting in its place with his legs propped up on Asher’s chair, right between his thighs.

“You sound hungry.” Jakob starts.

Asher craves death as he hears Trevor and Brett make a suggestive _hmmmm_ in their direction, “Maybe I am”, he bites back because he has no other choice. He’s stubborn but he’s not about to deny the sound his stomach clearly made.

Jakob’s face breaks into that awful, heart hammering grin as he leans closer to Asher, getting all up in his space. When he speaks, his voice is as low as the music he plays at night, “You sure, sugarplum?”

It’s only a joke, Asher reminds himself as he tries and fails to get his heart rate to slow down. Even though it was a jest, Asher can feel his face heating up. He blames it on the Californian heat. He levels his gaze and places his hands on the table, bracketing Jakob without realising, “Yeah, are you?”

He’s not sure what he means by that but before it can be dwelled on, Aleks’ chimes in with a “whoa dude, at least take Jakob out to dinner first”.

“We should add this to a Behind the Cow Chop…” He hears Brett mention as Lindsey hums in agreement.

It’s then that Asher realises how this must seem to everyone else and Jakob looks exactly like the cat that ate the canary. Asher decides he can’t let himself be the canary.

He stands, moving into Jakob’s space, placing his hand low on Jakob’s thigh, reveling in the way his grin drops and is replaced by something Asher can’t quite place. Gently, he leans closer to Jakob’s ear, voice low but still audible to everyone, “I’ll deal with you at home.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath but Jakob doesn’t give a witty comeback like usual and Asher counts that as a win as he abruptly, moves away from Jakob and to the kitchen to make himself some lunch. He's still hungry after all. As he prepares his food, he definitely doesn’t think about brown, doe eyes, long legs, soft music and languid kisses.

He doesn’t have a crush but his heart is still racing.

* * *

For the most part, things don’t really change. The Cow Chop gang still tease them endlessly, though nothing’s even happened since the Postmates incident, and Aleks, usually stuck to James’ side when he does so, makes jabs at the ‘suffocating sexual tension’ Asher and Jakob carry between themselves.

Their home life remains untouched with the exception of a few more shared dinners. It’s all the same but somehow different.

Some nights, Asher will catch a sleepy Jakob sitting on the kitchen counter sipping from a mug but most nights, he lays awake listening to the quiet tunes that float through the wall. It’s only when Trevor leaves and the house becomes his and Jakob’s that the air shifts again, just like it had that morning in the car all those weeks ago.

It’s the third night without Trevor and he’s sitting on the couch, fiddling on his phone, when he feels the seat next to him dip.

“Hey.” Jakob greets as he pulls out his 3DS. He isn’t wearing his glasses, Asher notes, before smiling and mumbling a ‘hey’ in reply. It’s quiet save for the sound of Yoshi’s Woolly World soundtrack playing from the DS. The screen is slightly reflected in those pretty eyes and Asher can’t help but be distracted.

Lately, he’s been thinking more about taking Jakob out on dates than fucking him until he’s begging Asher to let him cum. It’s scary and unfamiliar and it’s not a crush, he swears it isn’t. It’s just hormones.  

He hadn’t noticed but Jakob’s not even pressing buttons anymore, he’s simply staring at the screen. He does notice, however, when Jakob closes the DS and douses the house in silence once more.

Asher generally isn't the one to suggest things in the house, that was done by Trevor mostly but he supposes just this once, he could. He feels more awkward than he should when he asks, “Do you wanna watch something?”

Jakob turns to him with a smile that makes Asher’s hands shake, “Yeah.” He says as he gets down on his knees and shifts through their DVD pile.

Asher knows he’s absolutely, beyond, completely, on some other fucking plane of fucked when he sees Jakob on his knees but his one and only immediate thought is that he wants him back up on the couch because he knows Jakob bruised his knees on set yesterday and he doesn’t want him hurting himself in any way.

He’s too far gone when he says, “Hey, we can just watch something on Netflix. Come on.” Jakob looks back at him, slightly confused but accepting. He sits down next to Asher, a little closer than normal and it doesn’t go unnoticed as Asher turns on the TV.

“Who’s picking?” Jakob asks, while reaching for the blanket at the end of the couch, grateful for his lanky arms.

Asher shrugs, “You can, I don’t mind.”

Jakob ends up picking It because it’s the first thing he sees under the trending tab that doesn’t look like the hundredth romcom between two straight, white people and also because he hasn’t actually seen it yet.

“It? Really? Aren’t you scared of horror movies?” Asher prods but Jakob only laughs and denies the assumption.

Less than ten minutes into the movie, Jakob has already jolted twice and offers Asher some blanket under the guise of being friendly. He’s actually a little scared but whatever. Asher grins knowingly and accepts, leaning closer to Jakob.

Asher’s too busy looking at the bundle next to him to pay any attention to the interdimensional killer clown and it’s only when they’re a little over halfway through the movie that he realises Jakob’s stopped jolting. It’s also then that he notices Jakob never put his glasses back on, so how could he even see the movie? It’s not like he thinks Jakob is blind but he remembers Jakob telling him he had shit vision and couldn’t see that far ahead. In fact, he quickly realises, Jakob’s fallen asleep slumped against Asher’s shoulder and his head is slowly but surely slipping.

There’s no soft music for comfort this time around, only eerie ambiance emanating from the TV and with a click, Asher turns it off. The blanket lay across their laps and as Asher glances to the clock that reads half past one, he feels a light thud as Jakob’s head lands in his lap and his body sprawls awkwardly half on and half off the couch.

Asher knows he won’t be getting any sleep tonight.

And like with a lot of things concerning thoughts and feelings, he’s wrong.

He awakes to a shuffling of movement, a horrible crick in his neck and an empty space where Jakob should’ve been. He shoves down the sharp pining that claws at his chest as he stretches and heads to the kitchen. Jakob must’ve gone back to his room to sleep, he thinks. So, he’s kind of surprised when he walks into the kitchen to see Jakob sitting up on the counter again, a mug in his hands because they still haven’t washed the glasses from Trevor’s room.

Jakob blinks slowly and a smile begins to spread, “Did I wake you up?”

It’s not a crush but suddenly, Asher’s heart is lodged in his larynx.

He shakes his head and inches closer, grasping the mug from Jakob’s hands and downing whatever was left in it before placing it aside. Jakob protests softly, “Could've poured your own.”

Asher steps forward, liquid courage in the form of cold tap water coursing through his veins at four in the morning. He’s so close, standing between Jakob’s dangling legs with his hands in an oddly familiar position - still bracketing but somehow, so much softer.

“Asher?” Jakob’s voice is tentative, missing the usual confidence.

“Yeah?” He breathes in reply.

Jakob looks down, “I could barely see anything during the movie. I jumped because of the sounds.”, and then he looks back up at Asher, a nervous smile flashing at him.

Asher feels his own form before bringing a hand to Jakob’s waist, leaning forward and kissing him soft and slow, feeling Jakob fisting his fingers in Asher’s worn red tee as Asher pulls him closer.

When Asher opens his eyes again, Jakob’s own are gazing back, fingers now lightly clutching Asher’s tee.

“Already figured that one out.”

Jakob laughs, presses his forehead against Asher’s and looks at him through his lashes; Asher feels as if his heart is going to swell out of his ribcage. It can’t be just a crush. It’s not just carnal attraction. There’s no way it’s only hormones. 

“You know,” Jakob starts with a heady exhale, “I might just love you.”

Asher huffs gently, “You know, I might just love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't written in forever but this rarepair has me whipped oh bOy
> 
> tumblr: national-nobody


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